VANCOUVER – B.C. will soon become the first jurisdiction in Canada to recognize alcohol addiction as a chronic medical condition.

Health Minister Colin Hansen said the change, to take effect April 1, will put the emphasis on preventive measures and give family doctors more time and resources to treat patients with alcohol addiction.

“It’s saying to family physicians that if they identify somebody that has a chronic alcohol problem, they can treat them in the same way they would treat complex illnesses,” he said.

“They get to spend more time with their patient, as opposed to the standard doctor’s visit [where] they’ve got however many minutes to fill a prescription.”

The move follows a 2009 B.C. Medical Association report on improving addiction care that recommended addiction be recognized as a chronic, treatable disease.

The government and BCMA are now working together to develop guidelines for identifying, assessing and treating problem drinkers. The guidelines will be distributed

Family care physicians are ideally placed to broach the subject of addiction and the need for treatment, said Gordon Harper of the Umbrella Society for Addictions and Mental Health in Victoria.

Read more:  http://www.vancouversun.com/health/first+Canada+treat+alcoholism+medical+condition/4422268/story.html